SteinbergerHack

Do they have it for Android?

For me, the only real bucket list acoustics are: Maton Messiah Taylor K66CE 12-string I have a Taylor 814CE that I really, really like, and I'm into playing far more than collecting.

Why? Because it's cheap, easy, and works.

From an engineering perspective, this is complete and utter BS. A 100W tube amp draws less than 2 Amps maximum, even at full power. This is roughly equal to (2) 100 W light bulbs. From a code perspective, 14 gauge wire is acceptable for continuous duty at 15 Amps over runs much longer than an average extension cord. Even a small 18 gauge extension is OK up to 25 or 30 feet, for a single guitar amp. Now, you can cause problems if you try to put several amps on a single extension, and/or if you leave the cord tightly coiled or on a spool. One thing that IS important is grounding. ALWAYS use a grounded extension, and don't even think of using one of those two-prong adapters or cutting off the ground pin. Ground faults are a serious hazard, and you can be seriously hurt or even killed by a fault from an ungrounded guitar or mic.

My application would be the complete profile of my existing amp, including the cab (or cab sim). I have exactly zero interest in hauling around my cabinets anymore - I haven't had them with me on a gig in over a year, and I don't have a desire to go backwards. Currently, I run my XTC into a Torpedo Live loadbox/cab sim, then into my XR12 which feeds both FOH and my personal monitors. I've built a cab model that duplicates my mic'd 1960A, so I no longer carry anything except the one wedge monitor that I use for all of my instruments (acoustic and electric) and vocals. My goal is to get rid of the amp head, just to reduce the weight and fragility. With the Stage version, I assume that I would also be able to leave the Torpedo Live at home, and only use it while actually profiling. So far, the playing I have done with the KPA leads me to the conclusion that it's very, very good, and much better for my application than any of the modellers. It is not exactly the same thing as my XTC, but close enough that nobody in the audience will ever hear a difference, and the ease of use and mobility is a bigger benefit than the liability in tone. It is also less of a difference than if I were to shift to a different amp, which should put it in perspective. Thanks for the input!

Really? That's saying something. I've had a hard time believing that anything could sound as good as the XTC....but the older I get, the heavier it is to carry.....

Well, yes. That's why I have stuck with the XTC for almost 15 years now. There's nothing else out there that covers more ground, IMO. That's the idea. I played one for about 30 minutes today, and while it sounded very good, it wasn't inspiring. I think that I need to borrow one and do my own profiling to see what it can really do. The stock profiles aren't good enough, but they show that it might be able to get there. We'll see.

Nice enough, but a combo amp is absolutely not the solution for my gigs. I'm not looking for a new sound, I am looking for a lighter weight, smaller way to duplicate what I already have - the Bogner XTC and JCM800.

Yeah, between the horn bands and the theater work, the two things that drive cashflow are being able to read and play a score/book/chart and having whatever sound/style is required for EVERY cue. No leader/conductor wants to hear whining about needing a different guitar or not having the right pedal. Imagine session playing in front of an audience - very similar. I think the last time we rehearsed the horn band was in 2012, so we just play from the charts every gig. If the leader drops in a new chart, you play it when called, sight-reading if necessary. I may not have the shred chops of Satriani or the smoothness of Knopfler, but I stay busy playing.

The Kemper is supposedly different, which is what I want to find out.

Perhaps, but even so, I find that I use all three amp channels and the two boost functions constantly, on top of the basic choris/reverb/delay/comp programs. My core combinations are probably two dozen or so that are just generic sounds, then a few dozen more that are specific to artists or cover songs. .

How? I can't even think of a single song I play that I could do with a single patch!

Not sure if "frugal" is the right word, but I have a strong history of buying things only when planning to keep them for decades - and use them. I don't mind spending what it takes to get good stuff, but i only do it once, and I don't like constantly changing things out.

Well, yeah - you got the right stuff on the first try. There's nothing wrong with a Marshall of that era from just about any perspective!

Interesting concept, but I haven't played through any standard modeller that doesn't make me want to walk away in disgust. They just don't work for me. Keep in mind that the benchmark i am trying to duplicate is a Bogner XTC, occasionally paired with a JCM800.

This - and the Bogner XTC combined with real acoustic instruments gets the job done. Something like a Fender Princeton would not (or it would require a whole lot of pedals that I don't want to have to carry around).

At the processing level I believe that you are correct (and it's probably the only way to effectively mimic a tube amp's transfer function). For my application, the difference is that I can use my own amps' transfer functions as the base model - which is what I am looking for. I don't want a different sound - I just want to be able carry it around without having to see a chiropractor after every gig.

I have some really good amps already. The point is to have their sound (or extremely close) without having to take them out. If I wanted the sound of a different amp I would already have it.

There are hundreds, so it's not something that you can do in a short audition session. It's also not clear from the naming exactly what they are, which makes it even more user-hostile, IMO. Once I get my own setup built, I can easily remember what my own patch names mean, but figuring out what " ACE - CF Rh Zillah " is intended to denote is a bit obtuse, iMO.

Well, the Kemper isn't a modeler, per se. It reproduces the sound of your amp - you actually let the Kemper play through your amp to develop the map. I agree that finding the right tube amp is a long, arduous task - and I really love what I have with my Marshall and Bogner. I haven't found a modeler that I like at all, but the profiler (Kemper) actually does what I am looking for - reproduce the sound of my existing amps, but at a much lighter weght.

Yeah, already did this to get a sense that it might make sense for me - but that doesn't give me a sense of the "feel" nor of how it works in real practice. I play a lot of gigis in a wide range of environments, so I need something that's easy to use and intuitive, as well as maintaining the quality of sound that gets me those gigs. I have a buddy at work who has one and has offered to let me borrow it...but he is a bedroom-only player and doesn't have a gig setup. My most common rig setups now are either (1) running my head (Bogner or JCM800) into a 1960A cabinet and a Torpedo Live (loadbox / cabinet sim) which generates the FOH feed - OR - (2) doing away with the cabinet and running the output of the Torpedo into an XR12 which feeds both the FOH and a wedge monitor for me (the second is for when I am also using acoustic instruments that go into the XR12). For the Kemper, I am thinking that I would go to setup 2 for all gigs, and just use the XR12 and a monitor wedge. Hey now! I'm not getting rid of my tube amps - I just don't want to be hauling them out every weekend.

This is going to sound really dumb, but: For those of you who use digital/modeling/profiling amps, how do you go about auditioning an amp? I have never had a problem getting a feel for what a basic tube amp sounds like from simply plugging in and dialing in some gain and tone settings - about 2 minutes in I can have a sense of what the character of the amp is, and what sound it will give. Even a complex one like the XTC or VH4 has a personality that you can sort out pretty quickly. I don't use pedals for any gain or distortion (all amp), and all of my time delay and EQ is rack FX, so I'm only looking at the raw amp emulation. I want to go test-drive a Kemper to get a sense of whether it will do what I need/want for live use, but I really don't know where to start, and I don't want to spend hours fumbling around trying to figure out how to get to a basic set of sounds. OTOH, it's enough $$$ that I don't want to just risk-buy based on a bunch of internet reviews and Youtube clips - I really want to get a sense of how the thing operates and how easy it is to set up a basic sound, then navigate around among the rigs/patches. Any suggestions on how to start? Help!?!?!?!?!?!

This one....but I did keep it.